Riding a 10-game winning streak, including an impressive win over No. 16 Dartmouth College on Wednesday, the No. 12 Boston University lacrosse team will close its regular season when it faces the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Saturday at Nickerson Field at 1 p.m. The Terriers already clinched home-field advantage throughout the America East playoffs when they beat Binghamton University last week, but the Retrievers must win in order to make the postseason.
Saturday’s game will be Senior Day for the Terriers (12-3, 5-0 AE), and they will honor Sarah Dalton, Kelly Munroe and Steph Walker (all captains) for their careers at BU. Dalton enters the game as the Terriers’ career leader in points, and she is also looking to break her own record of goals scored in a season. Her 71 goals are the best in the nation, and she only needs one more to set BU’s record. Dalton is also nominated for the Tewaaraton Trophy (awarded to the top player in the nation), and she joins Munroe as a nominee for the America East Fans’ Choice Award.
‘We scheduled Senior Day for this time because we wanted to take this game seriously,’ BU coach Liz Robertshaw said. ‘Even though we already clinched, it’s still important for us to win, and I expect everyone to be playing their best for Senior Day.’
Aside from Dalton, juniors Traci Landy and Erica Baumgartner have been major point scorers for the Terriers, especially of late. Against Binghamton, Landy notched six goals, and Baumgartner tallied eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in a brilliant game against Dartmouth.
But with a playoff berth on the line, the Retrievers (9-7, 3-2) will be doing their best to spoil the Terriers’ party.
‘They’re fighting for their lives right now,’ Robertshaw said. ‘I expect them to play very feisty and go into the cage hard. We’re going to have to limit their shot opportunities because they’ll be aggressive.’
Two midfielders, senior Kara Dorr and sophomore Amanda Pappas, lead the way for the Retrievers, combining for 63 goals.’ UMBC spreads the ball around fairly evenly, as five other players have at least 17 goals.
To slow the Retriever attack, BU junior goalkeeper Rachel Klein hopes to stay hot. She has allowed an average of seven goals in the past four games and has lowered her goals-against average down to 9.92 goals per game, though it was over 13 through the first five games. Klein has also played every minute between the pipes this season for the Terriers. Still, Robertshaw has no plans to rest her or any other Terrier starters.
‘Absolutely not,’ Robertshaw said. ‘We are preparing for next weekend [when the America East Tournament starts] by playing our best game this Saturday, and the people that look best and are ready to go will be out there.’
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